Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Nigeria
Nigeria: Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age was 22.7% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Nigeria, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Nigeria stood at 22.7%. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.8% on the previous year and down 22.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Nigeria peaked at 40.0% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 22.7%, in 2025.
That places Nigeria 47th out of 206 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 40.0% | — |
| 2001 | 36.7% | -8.2% |
| 2002 | 32.1% | -12.5% |
| 2003 | 28.1% | -12.5% |
| 2004 | 25.2% | -10.3% |
| 2005 | 23.7% | -6.0% |
| 2006 | 23.1% | -2.5% |
| 2007 | 23.2% | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 23.4% | +0.9% |
| 2009 | 24.3% | +3.8% |
| 2010 | 25.6% | +5.3% |
| 2011 | 27.0% | +5.5% |
| 2012 | 28.0% | +3.7% |
| 2013 | 28.7% | +2.5% |
| 2014 | 29.0% | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 29.2% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 28.7% | -1.7% |
| 2017 | 27.9% | -2.8% |
| 2018 | 28.0% | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 28.3% | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 28.3% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 27.1% | -4.2% |
| 2022 | 25.8% | -4.8% |
| 2023 | 24.7% | -4.3% |
| 2024 | 23.6% | -4.5% |
| 2025 | 22.7% | -3.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 28.0% | 23.1% | 40.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 28.0% | 25.6% | 29.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 25.4% | 22.7% | 28.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
- 44 Malawi 23.7% compare
- 45 Micronesia, Federated States of 23.3% compare
- 46 Pakistan 23.0% compare
- 48 Cambodia 22.2% compare
- 49 Solomon Islands 21.9% compare
- 50 Trinidad and Tobago 21.8% compare
More education data for Nigeria
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 912,245 (2021)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 1.08 million (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 1.24 million (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 15.20 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 33.42 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.18 % change on previous year (2021)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1466 units per person (2023)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Nigeria?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Nigeria was 22.7% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 40.0% in 2000.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 22.7% in 2025.
- How does Nigeria rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Nigeria ranks 47th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 22.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nigeria data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age, female (modelled data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release